Big Mike's Steakhouse - Auburn — Restaurant in Auburn

Its a long review but worth the read if you have never eaten here.

Let me start by saying that this review is from a birthday dinner for my wife where we had a party of 14 people, NONE of us had ever eaten here before.

Our whole party showed up were seated us within 5 minutes. Efficiency-10/10

Atmosphere: We were seated in the middle of the restaurant but the low level of ambient noise made us able to talk without yelling. The lighting was warm and inviting. The decor was fitting of the name. The floors, tables and restrooms were all clean. Atmosphere-9/10 (took one point for having the Auburn game on, lol. Roll Tide)

appetizers: Collectively, we had the steakhouse loaded fries, crab cakes, crab dip and multiple orders of the cheese wedges. There were no complaints and everyone loved them. Appetizers - 10/10

Entrees: No one, and I repeat NO ONE had a complaint about their meal. The steaks were perfectly seasoned and beautifully cooked and my wife's Filet Mignon was absolutely divine and was well done as requested. The crab cakes were wonderfully cooked with the ideal amount of crunch but with the inside so soft and decadent. Our friends shared the ribeye and he was virtually silent the whole time and she was floored by the flavor. My son (16) had the Teriyaki chicken (which he let me try) and it was tender, juicy and flavorful. My daughter (11) had the kids chicken tenders and cleaned her plate. One of the other kids (13) had the fried chicken sandwich and said it was one of the best she ever had. There were a whole lot of "mmmmmm"s and "oh my lord"s being said. Entree - 10/10

Dessert: After the appetizers, bread, salads and entrees, there wasn't much room for dessert and I am the only one who ate any. The dessert menu looked absolutely sinful. From different kinds of cakes to some cheesecakes that would make your tongue slap your brain. They had something on the menu that most places don't have, bread pudding. That's what I had. It came with some homemade vanilla ice cream. Whipped cream and a caramel drizzle. One bite and I was transported to my childhood. The outside had just a slight crunch to it, the inside firm, yet tender and moist but not slimy. I know I have used forms of the word perfect a lot but it is definitely a fitting adjective for the food and experience and the dessert was no exception. Dessert-10\10

Service: We had a party of 14, as mentioned above. Most places would assign at least 2 servers to a party this size. They did not and I was a bit apprehensive hoping she could handle it. My apprehension turned to amazement as our server Taylor proceeded to give us top notch service. She had support from the other staff as necessary but for the most part, she worked her butt off to keep our table happy and I heard not one complaint about her performance. She did it all with the biggest, most infectious smile on her face. We will be returning and requesting her as our server. Service-10/10

Negatives: There are only two negatives I can find one the whole experience. For one, the timing of the food being brought out. We received our salads literally 2 minutes before our entrees. Would have liked to have had a little time to eat that. Second, with it being my wife's birthday, I wish they did some sort of birthday chant or something for her. All in all, with those being the only 2 things I found wrong with the meal. I won't consider those reasons to not return because we absolutely will.

Summary: The atmosphere, food and service were just shy of absolute perfection. Our bill was fairly high but as the saying goes, "You get what you pay for'' and this place is an exemplification of that adage. I would definitely recommend for a small intimate dinner for a special occasion or a large party where they are responsible for their own bill. Our cumulative bills were just shy of $500 not including gratuity so in the grand scheme of things it averaged around $38 per person and a party of 2, with appetizers and drinks would be around $80-100.

Overall...

Well rolled the dice despite the negative reviews. Service was great, waiter (Patrick Great) Food - Bread very good, cheese sticks marginal taste overly cooked marinara for them was very good. Crab Cakes were the highlight of the meal very good reasonably priced compared to other restaurants. Now for the main reason for going to Big Mikes their signature steaks. The taste of the steak was reasonably good but as others have posted it tasted smokey this location uses from what I was told Charcoal and not wood as they advertise to cook there steaks. If any of you have grill a steak on charcoal you know if your charcoal isn't red hot and still has black coal showing it will make your steak taste smokey and just like the charcoal. We both Ordered Medium rare steaks, they state that they will not cook a steak past Medium. Not sure what Medium is to them as you'll see our cold steaks wouldn't even melt the butter placed on them and they were a Purple not red or even running red blood juice in fact there wasn't any juice at all. Steaks had a lot of Gristle and fat in them. The fat would have been nice had it been cooked enough. Our waiter offered to take them back to kitchen and heat or cook them some more. We were already disappointed with what was supposed to be the Big Mike Steak experience. And decided we would just take leftovers home with us and go ahead and leave. Oh did I mention we had driven 75 miles 1hr 1/2 for out anniversary, just to eat there based on the company history and write up about Big Mikes Steakhouse I guess it only pertains to the original Thomasville start up location.Oh forgot the onion straws I added to try they were good as well. Now down to the dirty part the check as others have posted and complained about. I was expecting a pricey check based on the prices listed on there web site. But it would have been fine if the food had been phenomenal as they advertised. The hostess placed a little sheet on the table with the menus showing up charges for there meats do to rising cost. plus menu has up charges for sides that would normally come with your entree at other restaurants. Our steaks had an additional charge of $3.75 per steak and $2.50 for a Caesar salad that was nothing but iceberg lettuce with 2 croutons and 2 little cups on Caesar Dressing. My wife had loaded baked potato tat had up charge of $2.50 would had been fine if the potato had been hot enough to melt the butter and cheese that was put on it (you can it in the picture) now last insult on the check as you can see there is an up charge of $5.43 for using a credit card to pay for your meal. I may take some heat for this but I only left our waiter $20 in cash for his tip for taking our order and bring a refill on my coke (surprised there wasn't up charge for that) Well that was our experience today in Auburn, Alabama at the Big Mikes Steakhouse. Another sad thing is for less than half my check we could have eaten at Texas Roadhouse and had better steak experience and Texas Roadhouse is an OK...

My husband's coworker recommended that we eat here. He was told that they had the best steak in the area. So, being the carnivores that we are, we had to try it out. My husband was pleased, the kids and I not so much. After a little over 2 hours of waiting, in the car, with a 2 yr old and 13yr old, we were all starving. When our buzzer finally started buzzing we were more than relieved. We started with an appetizer, fried crab claws, definitely the best part of the meal. Ask what market price is, we didn't, and that appetizer was more than some of the meals. $35! We devoured the entire app. So, on to the rest. My husband and I both ordered our steaks medium rare. His was on point and he enjoyed his very much. Unfortunately, my experience was not the same. My steak had no pink, and was very charred on the outside. I ordered a baked potato, but received a baked sweet potato. They took my entire plate back and returned with a swap between the two potatoes. After the two hour wait, I just did not have it in me to send everything back and wait on another plate. My daughter was pleased with the grilled shrimp, but the potato wedges were slacking. My son ate 2 bites of his chicken tenders and he was done. (I ate those the next day and they were pretty good) Our waitress was mediocre. I had to flag her down for a refill for myself and my daughter. Then again for to-go plates. Prior to the visit, we viewed the menu and got a little idea of what we THOUGHT we would spend. I was not expecting to have a bill close to $200 after leaving the tip and paying the $5 card fee(which isn't clearly portrayed unless you are really looking for it on the receipt). With that being said, after the 2 hour wait, and the cost of the food, I would expect to be able to leave a 5 star review. There's alot of improvements that need to happen, the potential is definitely there. The execution is just not consistent. I also don't think I would be willing to bet that amount on giving it...